She cautiously walked down the rocky ridge until she stepped on level ground. And made her way to the forest of stone pillars. Her senses tingled, danger with each step, and with each step, she sent out pulses of magnetic waves rippling out among the pillars. She crept along the terrain, approaching the towering pillars of stones, nearly ten feet tall and three feet wide. Some were near perfect, others were not so perfect. For many of them, the surface bore the scars of time and decay, with deep cracks and chips marring its once smooth exterior. Grotesque and twisted, it seemed like the rocks were frozen in a never-ending scream of pain and anguish. Its shape, distorted, with jagged edges bulging randomly, knotted, and twisted like old trees in ancient forests. Each deep and shallow scratch, weathered and worn, as if in countless battles with unseen forces.
Mikoto ran her hands over the rough surface. The stone was not cool or comforting to the touch. It felt warm, giving an angry heat. Uncomfortable to touch. She sniffed the stone surface. Nothing. Not even the smell of stone.
She slipped her nails across its surface. The sound was sharp and abrasive, like the cries of a wounded or trapped animal, leaving deep scratches behind as she moved to the next pillar. She wiped her hands together, smelled her nails, and reached and put her hand on the next pillar.
Unlike its twisted counterpart, this stone pillar stood firmly in the rugged terrain. Similar in size, nearly ten feet tall and three feet wide, this pillar starkly contrasted it and many others that dotted the landscape. This one was intact and smooth to the touch. The surface is relatively soft, with only minor cracks and chips, much like the average damage you would expect down in the valley. The wind barely slipped over her skin and touched her hair. Stirred the dust on the ground. This one was like a monument to time. A sense of serenity as if waiting to be born.
She stepped back, smelling her fingers, smelling traces of dirt…and something that shouldn't have been there.
"Vita," she said, nearly in a whisper.
Being a vampire and bonded to her Mistress, Vita could hear her. She was watching from the rim of the valley. Worried yet unworried about her mistress. She'd seen her many times in the throes of battle.
"Understand," she said, "dismount and ready yourselves." She leaned forward, her hand resting on her right knee, and sniffed.
Aya, Gallum, and Nya, leaders of their own small house of warriors, gave the order and dismounted from the wagons with a sense of urgency. The air crackled with anticipation as they gathered their gear. Each warrior shouldered a compact railgun, a formidable weapon capable of firing powerful projectiles with precision. These were futuristic weapons of mass destruction developed in Academy City. Each carries the destructive capability of an entire garrison. Ammo cases that held one hundred clips filled with a thousand rounds each. Small iron balls need no gunpowder, only a powerful electromagnetic pulse. These could be strapped on their backs and reloaded with a feeder tube. Or they could be dropped on the ground using the same connection. Much of the armor they wore and all of the weaponry had been reallocated from the dead. When Mikoto and her house were trapped in this realm by member dropped to their bellies and readied themselves. With a click of a switch, the weapons came alive. A dull hum filled the surrounding air.
ᛏᚹᛁᛊᛏᛖᛞ ᛒᚱᛟᚲᛖᚾ ᛖᚾᛖᛗy
"twisted, broken enemy," Mikoto said, slowly drifting back. She'd paused, sniffed, and slowly kneeled before an undamaged pillar. The smell of blood was heavier here. She brushed away some dirt clinging to the smooth surface. Her fingers gently traced Runes scratched into the stone as a warning. "Desperate and scared," sensing the emotions of the one who left their final words. Mikoto whispered. "and still gave their lives to warn others."
"This had to be one of many patrols she sent out." little misaka said. "runes were the first things she taught them." Mikoto nodded her agreement, still tracing each letter with her finger. Pain and anger bubbling to the surface.
"twisted, broken enemy." Little misaka took a breath. She was in her no-nonsense mode. Computer screens were all around her. She was in nothing but skin-tight black. It wasn't an outfit or uniform. This was who she was. Little misaka is the vampire side of Mikoto Misaka. The little look-alike thinned her eyes. The predator-seeking prey analyzed the surroundings. "she is going to be pissed." Mikoto bit her lip, "Yep…."
"target the ugly ones," Vita said.
She squeezed her fist so tight blood seeped through her fingers. She had trained and sent them. Not just one but a few. And this is where they ended up at. She'd settle it. Her eyes thinned, and she breathed, smelling the enemy. "she'd make them pay."
Each weapon slowly drifted, selecting a target.
Nya was close enough to the edge of the valley. Her elbows slipped over the edge, and her railgun held steady. Looking through the targeting screen, she adjusted her focus to pull into the details. Each deep twisted groove was so close it was as if she could reach out and slip a finger along it.
With a twitch, the twisted groove sprung open wide-eyed and quickly thinned. She pulled the trigger.
Mikoto remained still, but as she extended her fingers. Like dust caught in a vacuum, she used her magnetism to pull the iron from the ground. Iron sand. She could gather large amounts from the ground, using them in various shapes and sizes. Each particle vibrates at high speeds, allowing them to cut through objects like a chainsaw. Her favorite weapons were her iron sword and whip sword. It is one of her most versatile attacks.
She rolled her eyes, hearing the hiss of a projectile flying and the explosion that followed.
"Nya?" Mikoto said, gazing over at the pillar she had investigated earlier. The twisted and ugly one. The entire pillar exploded into chunks and dust. The pillar behind and the one behind it, on the right side, exploded and dropped to the ground. One didn't fall but three.
Nya puckered her lips. "Wasn't expecting that?" she said as she selected her next target.
Vita rolled her eyes. Mikoto exhaled her breath, waving her hand in front of her face as a cloud of dust swallowed the area.
"looks like we are a go," Vita said quickly, but before she had finished, Aya and Gallum had fired as if not to be left out of the fun.
"Well, fire!" Vita groaned as if someone had stolen her moment.
Mikoto quickly stood and swung her iron whip around, the air hissing and vibrating, selecting her target. She flicked her wrist, cutting through stone pillars like a hot knife through butter. She moved swiftly, like a cat in pursuit. The stone pillars broke into two, and she would break them into pieces with a flick of her wrist. Many never get the chance to shift. Stone pillars exploded and disappeared into a thick, choking fog of dust.
Chaos bloomed.
As the battle raged on, a deafening roar suddenly cut the air., drowning out the sounds of gunfire and explosions. The earth beneath them trembled, and the noise of shattering rocks and crashing stones shook the valley. Across the gorge, The once stationary stone pillars came to life, their twisted forms contorting further as if animated by an unseen force. Knowing the tides against them, the stone warriors turned and fled, quickly moving across the massive stone bridge spanned the ominous gorge. Joining the remaining twisted pillars as they transformed into more legions of stone warriors. Each new stone warrior stretched and roared as if waking from a long slumber. Together, they unleashed a synchronized roar, their stone fist pounding against their stone chest in a rhythmic display of strength. Deep, heavy-breath grunts escaped their rocky expressions, causing the ground under their feet to quake under their weight.
"Quiet!" a thunderous roar echoed from within the black depths of the deep gorge in a voice that sounded of crushed gravel and stone. It shook the air. Heavy, thunderous smacks of stone meeting stone shook the surroundings.
Mikoto rushed to the gorge's edge near the stone bridge and looked into the pitch-black abyss. Even with her vampire vision, she struggled to see the approaching danger rising. The ground trembled beneath her feet, and an enormous stone hand came from the darkness as if breaking from underneath black waters. With a booming crash, a massive hand slammed against the rocky walls of the abyss, rocks, and debris tumbled into the endless void below. Another hand suddenly followed it, and then another as a colossal creature gradually revealed itself.
"Grommok!" they roared, their voices filled with awe, fear, and defiance. "Grommok!" they chanted together. Their voices echoed through the valley, up the ridge, and over the enemy. With each smack on their chest. They chanted. The name shook the air, a revere call to battle. The stone warriors, boosted by their leaders' presence, continued their rhythmic beats, chants growing louder and more fervently. The ground rumbled and slowly split beneath their powerful blows as if each strike helped him crawl out of the abyss.
But the battle continued. Vita would have her revenge. She would take out as many as she could. Before…Mikoto could finish them off. She huffed, counting each one as they exploded. "36, 37…38 oops, just injured it. Oh well, time for mercy kills….38."
"those ones are mine!" Aya screamed. "liar!" Gallum yelled. "hmph! Amateurs!" Nya whispered, lining up her next kill.
The Stone Warriors continued to explode into dust clouds and collapse into crumbled rubble under the relentless assault. The colossal figure of Grommok finally emerged from the depths, pulling itself up with an earth-shaking effort. The railgun rounds chipped away at its rocky skin, creating small craters that littered the ground. But as if by some magical force. The damaged areas would roll up as if in self-healing, leaving no trace. Its resilience seemed unyielding, defying their efforts to bring him down.
Grommok turned, glared across the gorge, raised its powerful stone arms, and roared.